SUMMER PALACE, Garden Of Harmony

The splendid Garden of Virtue and Harmony was the place where the Emperor Guangxu and the Empress Dowager Cixi watched the performances of the Beijing Opera, in one of the three most famous opera theaters of the Qing dynasty: the Grand Theater, the best-preserved and the largest in China. You can see it in the second courtyard of the four that the garden is divided into.

The Empress Dowager Cixi was such a keen opera fan that when the Summer Palace was undergoing reconstruction work after the ravages of the war in 1860, she had this theater built in 1891, where over 200 operas were performed for her.

The three-storey building is 21 meters high. Below the stage are a well and five pools, which were used to amplify the sound effects through acoustic resonance. Chinese opera featured numerous tricks on stage, including water effects, acrobatics and performers flying across the stage using winches.

In the dressing rooms behind the stage, you can now see an exhibition of costumes and props, and even Cixi’s car....